Maggie in Wonderland
by EleniLeonora
Summary: At times my smiles are fake, some days they're real. I pretend that everything is fine, but at the end of the day after I put my two youngest children to bed, I go to my oldest daughter's bed room to make sure she's still breathing. Maggie is everything
1. Help, I'm Alive

**A few important things you need to you know:**

**Brooke and Lucas were together in high school, got married and had Maggie when they were 18, she's 14 years old, Riley (9), and Bailey(6), then they get divorced. Brooke still owns Clothes Over Bros. Lucas is still a writer, coaches basketball on the side at Tree Hill High.**

**Haley and Nathan still have the same history. Jamie still exists, same age as Maggie, they also have another child, Kate, who is 5. Haley is still a teacher at Tree Hill High, Nathan is still in the NBA.**

**Peyton is married to Jake, Jenny still exists, she's 16. But they also have a daughter together, Sawyer (9), a son, Dylan (7), and another daughter, Ellie (3). (They have their hands full that's for sure) Peyton still works at Red Bedroom Records, Jake is the head basketball coach at Tree Hill High.**

**If you have any other questions, like something your confused about or just want to know something, go ahead and ask and I shall reply back.**

**Thanks and I hope you all enjoy. Let me know what you guys think. Lots and lots of reviews please!  
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I live my life one day a time. At times my smiles are fake, some days they're real. I pretend that everything is fine, but at the end of the day after I put my two youngest children to bed, I travel to my oldest daughter's bed room to make sure she's still breathing.

_"I am floating away lost in a silent ballet  
I'm dreaming you're out in the blue and I am right beside you_

_Awake to take in the view  
Late nights and early parades  
Still photos and noisy arcades  
My darling we're both on the wing  
Look down and keep on singing and we can go anywhere  
Are you there ?"_

_**Owl City -"On The Wing"**_

Maggie Elizabeth Scott. A bright-eyed, dark-haired, witty, beautiful, intelligent funny 14 year old girl who is deathly ill. Some days you can tell, other days you can't. You'd be surprised that there was anything wrong with her due to the fact that she's a very happy girl.

Maggie was born a healthy 7lbs, 12oz baby girl. She didn't have a single thing wrong with her, she was perfect. I had just given birth to my son, Riley Davis Scott, when I received the life changing news.

**_October 13th, 2011, 9 years ago_**

**_Brooke_**

I got a call from Maggie's kindergarten teacher telling me that she had gotten sick while playing outside and had vomited what seemed like an endless amount of blood. I immediately hung up the phone, grabbed Riley and and got to Maggie's school as quick as possible. I found her lying on the couch in the school nurse's office. My heart broke just looking at my helpless 5 year old in so much pain.

"Hi, baby. Let's take you to the doctor so we can make you all better, Okay?" I prepared myself for Maggie to throw a fit because she was extremely scared of the doctor.

"Okay." A weak, pathetic looking Maggie spoke. I was surprised she didn't fight back. She was sucking her thumb, she hadn't done that since she was 2 years old.

I talked to Maggie's teacher so I could get as much information as possible to tell the doctor. I gave my husband, Lucas a call to inform on Maggie's state of health. He was on a book tour at the time but inconveniently canceled so he could be there for his little girl. I dropped Riley off at my best friend, Haley's house and told her everything that was going on.

Maggie was latched onto me like a monkey as I carried her into the hospital, she wouldn't let go. Her hands were gripped so tight to my shirt that I couldn't pry her hands open. I went into the doctor's office and just sat there and watched the pediatrician observe, examine, and scribble secrets onto his stupid little note-pad. It really frustrated me at how silent it was in the room. All that was to be heard was Maggie's left over sniffles from her crying earlier.

"Are you going to tell me anything that you're writing down in that thing or are you just gonna let me sit here and worry?" I finally had spoke. Probably not the best way to speak to a doctor, but he was being rude.

"Mrs. Scott are you aware of these bruises located on the left Maggie's back?" The doctor asked as he pulled the back of Maggie's shirt up.

I got up to see what he was talking about. I had just given her a bath the night before and I didn't recall seeing those bruises. They were fresh, that's for sure. They had that dark purple and blue hue to them. This scared me.

"I just gave her a bath last night, those were not there." I explained and proceeded to ask my daughter about it.

"Baby, do you know how you got these owies on your back?" I asked as I ran my fingers through her dark, brown locks.

"No, but they kinduh hurt. Can we go home? I'm tired, Mama." Maggie spoke softly, she looked very worn out. It was almost foreign looking to me. Maggie was never worn out looking, she was so lively and cheerful and always had a smile on her face that revealed her dimples, which she got from me.

"Sweetheart, you'll be done soon, okay? If you want you can sleep with mommy tonight in her big bed." I said, rubbing her back.

"When you picked her up from school, did she continue to vomit?" The doctor asked.

"No, she was very quiet the whole ride here, but she did mention that her chest was hurting." I said as I turned to the doctor.

"Alright, well we're gonna run a few tests on you, Maggie and then you're free to go home and get some sleep, okay?" The doctor said looking at Maggie. She grabbed the edge of my shirt and dug her head into my stomach. Even though she didn't throw a fit about going to the doctor, she was still scared.

"Sorry, she's just a little scared of the Doctor. It's nothing personal." I joked. I didn't mean for it to come out funny, but I guess it did, cause I wasn't really in a laughing mood. The doctor laughed a little bit.

I picked my daughter up and followed the Doctor to another room. This time I had to wait outside while Maggie got her C.T.

"Honey, the nice nurse is gonna take you now. Mommy will be right here." I said trying to hand Maggie off, but she was clung to me for dear life.

"No, Mommy! No! I wanna stay with you! I don't wanna go! Mommy!" Maggie yelled and began to cry as the nurse took her away.

"Sweetheart, Mama is right here, I'm not going anywhere." I said, trying to reassure my crying 5 year old. All I could do was watch my frightened daughter.

"Hi, Maggie. Your Mommy is watching you right there. Do you see her?" A kind nurse spoke softly as she pointed to the nearby window where I was.

"Yeah." A frazzled Maggie spoke, wiping her tears away.

"Alright, are you ready to go on a ride?" The nurse asked, trying to calm Maggie down.

"A ride?" Maggie asked, sounding confused.

"Well duh! You didn't think Doctor's were boring, did you?" The nurse asked pretending to be surprised.

Maggie shook her head, no. Even though my baby was scared, I couldn't help but smile at the way the nurse was talking to her.

"Alright, good. I'm gonna need you to be a big girl and lay down, but you gotta stay still or else the ride won't work, okay?" The nurse told Maggie.

"Okay." Maggie said and she layed down, perfectly still.

"Alright, Maggie you're doing awesome. If you keep still the whole ride, we'll give you a surprise." The nurse said.

I had this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Like something bad was going to happen. I tried to erase all these thoughts from my mind and stay positive but I couldn't get rid of that feeling in the pit of my stomach.

What seemed like an hour was only 10 minutes and Maggie had ran out of the room where she was holding a sucker and a teddy bear with a smile on her face.

"Well, look at you. Was my girl a big girl or what?" I asked, trying to keep Maggie in the state that she was in.

"Yeah, look at my teddy bear Mommy, I named him Lucas, after Daddy." Maggie said, in her cute, little high-pitched, raspy voice.

"You named him after Daddy, huh?" I asked.

"Yes because I miss him so If I have my teddy bear named Lucas, I can just pretend that it's Daddy." Maggie explained as grown up as possible.

"Well, that's a good idea, honey. Daddy will be home tomorrow." I said. I don't think she knew that.

"Daddy's coming home tomorrow!? Yay!" Maggie said, getting excited.

"Baby, why don't you go play with your teddy while I talk to the doctor, okay?" I said, while smiling. It was one of those fake ones. I could tell the doctor knew something that I didn't. I walked over to the doctor.

"So, did you find anything wrong? Anything at all?" I asked, impatiently and nervously.

"Mrs. Scott, as you know we did a cat scan of her chest... We came across what looks like an abnormality in the right side of her chest just under the collar bone. We think it's a swollen lymph node, but we can't be sure until we run a few more tests. Now, it's up to you, but I would highly suggest that Maggie gives a blood sample and quite possibly get a bone marrow biopsy done. Neither of the two are pleasant, but they've got to be done." The doctor explained, scaring me.

"I understand that you've found something in Maggie's chest, but you're not telling me what you _think _is wrong with my daughter." I asked, becoming a little aggrivated. But I probably shouldn't of asked or the doctor wouldn't have told me right then and there what they think is wrong with my little girl.

"We think Maggie might have Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. I know that sounds scary but it seems like the closer we are getting with test results, the closer her symptoms are turning into this disease. If we do a blood test on Maggie and it returns negative then we may have something less harmful to research. If they come back positive, meaning if her lymphocyte cells are affected, then we have to get treatment for Maggie right away." The doctor finished.

Eventually the blood tests came in, and they were positive. Then the blood tests continued, the bone marrow biopsy was done, another C.T. Scan to check her chest again, more blood tests. This went on for two weeks until one day we got the life changing phone call. It was true, the doctor was right. Maggie had Acute Lymphocyte Leukemia. Lucas and I were scared but we had to put on our brave faces for our Maggie. She is my everything.

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**_June 16th, 2020, Present Day_**

**_Maggie_**

I watched my little brother, Riley and my little sister Bailey play with our dog, Sundance. He was a golden retriever, probably the sweetest dog you'll ever meet. My Mom and Dad bought him for me on my 7th birthday. I think it was the best birthday present ever. I was sitting on the porch swing when I heard the door open. It was my mother. Sometimes t hurt to look at her, she was so painfully beautiful. I'm lucky to have her in my life. I feel sorry for Riley and Bailey sometimes. I wonder if they were sick, would they get as much attention as I do? I feel bad sometimes. I know my mom does too, but she doesn't say anything. My brother Riley just turned 9 a few weeks ago. He spent his birthday in the hospital with me and the rest of the family. How selfish can I be? It was his birthday and everyone was worried about me. My mother sat down and put her arm around me.

"You two go inside and clean up, your Dad is gonna be here in 10 minutes." My mother shouted to my Riley and Bailey. They ran inside.

"Mommy, do we have to talk to Emily, daddy's new girlfriend?" Bailey, my 6 year old sister asked in a very snobby way. God, love her.

"I don't know if she's even gonna be there, baby, but if she is, then no, you don't have to talk to her, now go inside and clean up, you look a mess, girl." My mother said, rolling her eyes to the thought of Emily, but smiling as she saw her own self in her youngest daughter.

My parents got divorced when I was 12. It was understandable. I'd say that most of it had to do with me. I caused a lot of stress in there lives. They would fight all the time. Whether it was over hospital bills, , Riley's school issues, my sick issues, just family issues in general, they were always fighting. Riley has been getting in countless fights at school, but thank the lord it's summer time. It seemed like only a few months after my parents got divorced, my father had a girlfriend. Emily. I thought she was nice, but I didn't tell my mother that. I do think it was wrong for my father to start dating only a few months after he got divorced. Which made my mother question my father. Did he have an affair? He denies it. My father is a good man, but sometimes he just does everything the very opposite to right.

"Are you feeling okay to go out?" My mom asked me. She wanted me to say no, I could see it in her eyes. She doesn't like being left alone. Especially when I'm away. Not only does it make her worry, but she feels like we love our Dad more than her. Bailey is definitely a Daddy's girl, but she loves mom the same. Riley seems to be very distant from both of our parents, they can't seem to get inside his head, he's a quiet boy. I'm very close to my father and I love him a lot, but nobody will ever have what my mother and I have.

"Yeah, I'm feeling okay." I said. My mom sighed as if she knew I was going to say that.

"Mom, we're gonna be gone for a day, we'll be back early tomorrow. Why don't you go over to Aunt Haley's or Aunt Peyton's?" I suggested.

"Hmm. Maybe you're right." My mom thought.

My mom, Haley and Peyton have been best friends since high school. They're not related in any shape or form, but I've always called them my Aunt's. Haley had a baby in high school too, Jamie, a son. He's only a few weeks older than me. My mom had me after she graduated high school, Haley had Jamie during the graduation ceremony. Funny story. Peyton was the good one and didn't have a baby until she was 23, she was pregnant the same time my mother was with Riley.

My father pulled up to the drive way. My mom went inside to let Riley and Bailey know that he was here, but not before she kissed me on the forehead. My dad opened the driver's side door and got out to walk up to the steps.

"Hi Daddy." I said.

"Hey sweetheart, how are you feeling today? Okay? You're looking good." He said.

"Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good today, happy to see you." I said. I missed my father, he was always gone, traveling for his book tours to promote and sell, if it wasn't his only occupation, he would quit so he could spend time with his children but unfortunately that's how he makes money to help my mother pay for the hospital bills.

Riley and Bailey run out of the house.

"Daddy!" Bailey shouts as she runs to my father to give him a hug.

"Hi, Bailey Bear, ready to go?" My dad asks as he picks her up and gives her a kiss on the cheek.

"Yes!" Bailey exclaims.

"Not so fast, Bear, you come here and give your mama a kiss before you leave." My mom said, bending down on one knee, with her arms out. My dad put Bailey down.

"Sorry, mommy." Bailey gave my mother a hug and a kiss.

"I love you, you be good for your daddy, you hear me?" My mother said to Bailey.

"Love you more." Bailey said, shaking her head in a yes motion. She's always good for my Dad.

Riley was just standing there with his hat cocked a little to the left, being quiet as usual.

"Hey buddy, go say bye to your mom and grab Maggie's bag." My Dad said, thinking that I wasn't strong enough to carry my less than 5 pound back pack. Riley said bye to my mother.

"I'll see you tomorrow, take care of your sisters for me, k?" My mom said.

"Mom, we're only going to be gone for one day." Riley said, rolling his eyes. My mom was being a little over dramatic about it all.

"I know, I know." My mom said. Riley went to grab my back pack, but I pulled it back.

"Riley, don't worry about it, I got it dude." I said to my helping brother as I picked my back pack up and put it on my back. I walked over to my mom to say bye to her.

"You call me right away if you need anything or you get sick, okay?" My mom said to me, giving me a hug.

"Alright, I will. But I think I'll be fine. If anything does happen, Dad can handle it, Mom." I always try to stick up for my Dad. Sometimes my mom talks about him as if he's mentally challenged. I think she does it just because she despises him and his new girlfriend.

"Well, you still call me if anything happens. Same goes for you Luke, you call me if something happens." She said, being the freak of a worried Mother that she is.

"Brooke, calm down, we're all gonna have some fun and relax at the beach. Stop worrying. Maggie is a warrior, she'll be okay." My Dad said. He likes to look at everything on the positive side, like I'll be okay with anything that I do because I'm tough and I've lasted for so long having this sickness. My Mom is just kind of bitter, she always worries, she's very paranoid, and very protective. She thinks more on the pessimistic side.

My mother kissed me good bye and said bye to Riley and Bailey again and we got in the car and drove down the road heading to Dad's beach house on Wrightsville beach. I turned my head to look out the window behind me. My mother was still standing on the front porch, the farther away we drove, the harder it became to see her, then I couldn't see her anymore. Sometimes she makes me worry more about her than I worry about myself.

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**Alright, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm not sure if most of the Leukemia information is true or not, but I did my research and tried to make it all sound right.** **Gimme a break, I'm just an amateur, hahaha. Please leave me reviews. If you guys have questions or any tips or anything, I'd love to hear them, so ask away.** **I've always wanted to write a story that had each character's point of view**. **So when I came across Kelsey's Evolving (Who wrote "Archways and Endings") I decided that reading that story inspired me to write this one. I just loved it. So thanks for the inspiration. Like I said, please give me lots and lots of reviews! **

**  
THANKS!**

**-ME**


	2. Into Your Soft Heart

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**: **Alright, so whenever I wrote at the end of my first chapter, I did forget to mention that I was inspired by My Sister's Keeper. Mostly along the lines of the sickness, the way the family is, and the love they all had for each other. I noticed a lot of you saying that it reminds you of that. I'm definitely going to take this story above and beyond that, so yes you may notice some similarities, but these characters are definitely there own people. Just wanted to let you all know that. Hope you enjoy the second chapter. Sorry that it's kind of short!**

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_**July 3rd, 2020, Present Day**_

_**Maggie**_

It's funny to me when I hear someone tell an outrageous story and they decide to end it with the phrase, "I almost died" and then they laugh or something. I could tell you countless stories while using the phrase and actually mean it. Everybody has always wondered why I'm not miserable or sad about me being sick. The truth is, I just laugh at it and stay positive even though I know that it's not always going to be all sunshine and rainbows. I've made it this far, maybe I can make it a little farther. When I was in the hospital about a month ago, I met a girl who had what I had. Her name was Rachel, she was 18. She needed a bone marrow transplant but she told me she had been on a waiting list for what felt like a decade and that it was practically a lost cause. She was very sad, but she had lots to say and I enjoyed talking to her. We met in the cafeteria. Two days later, I sat there maybe thinking I would run into her again. I came to find out that Rachel was discharged the day before and that same night she had gone home, she killed herself. I don't know how she did it, but she did it. I was sad because that meant I couldn't hear her funny stories anymore, but I was also happy for her. Maybe killing yourself wasn't the best way to go, but if you're already dying and in pain anyways, then I guess it was okay for her. I can't imagine her parents took it too well.

Sometimes I wonder how my family will be when I die. I imagine my mother will never be the same. Sometimes I'll have conversations with my mom and talk about "when the time comes" and she freaks out on me. I don't think she'll ever come to terms... for when the time comes. Yes, I'll admit, I am scared, but not of dying. I'm scared of what's on the other side. You see in movies that it's always something spectacular, but sometimes it's not, sometimes it's frightening. No one will ever really know until it's there time to go. I like to think that heaven is what you want it to be. One day, I was talking with my little sister, Bailey and she told me that when she goes to heaven, she hopes everything is pink and yellow, there's a playground, and that I'm there with her to push her on the swings.

"Bailey Peyton Scott! Don't you talk like that ever again!" My mother yelled. She was doing the dishes. Of course she was in a bad mood, my Mom hates cleaning. Haley's daughter, Kate and Peyton's daughter Ellie were also running around the house. A 6 year old, a 5 year old, and a 3 year old pretty much equal a migraine.

"Mom. Don't yell at her, you're gonna ruin the kids imagination." I snapped back at my mom, trying to put a little funny-ness to it, but it seemed like today that Mom just wasn't having it.

"I'm sorry Mommy." Bailey said softly, with her lips pouted and her head slumped down.

Mom just stared at her, she felt bad for yelling so loudly at her.

"Me too, Bear. Why don't you go outside and play with Kate and Ellie while I talk to your sister." Bailey has the attention span of a fly, so of course she ran outside before Mom could even finish talking.

"I'm sorry, Maggie, but I hate when you guys talk about death and going to heaven. It just makes my stomach turn." My mom said, her back facing to me as she washes a plate.

"You're just jealous cause she said she wanted me there." I joked and then laughed. Mom didn't find it funny at all. I could usually get a good laugh out of my mom. I always made her laugh, but like I said, it just seemed like she was in a horrible mood today and I was right.

"Maggie, I'm serious. You shouldn't talk like that, it's very unhealthy." She snapped back. Did she really just say that? Ha.

"Well, last time I checked, I was already pretty unhealthy, Mom." I was such a smart ass sometimes. I could tell my mom was getting even more aggrivated with my smart remarks, so I stopped, but apparently not soon enough. She was about to put a newly cleaned plate into the cabinet until I realized that she had slammed it on our granite counter tops, causing glass the shatter everywhere.

"God dammit, Maggie!" She screamed. The slamming of the plate made me jump.

"Do you understand how selfish you sound!? How selfish you are being about all of this!? You are MY daughter and you're talking about WHEN you die! I want you to stop! Can you not understand how that hurts me, Maggie?" My mother was in tears and I was furious, full of tears. How could she say that?

I stood up from the table and took a few steps towards her. With my index finger, I pointed.

"Do YOU understand how selfish YOU'RE being, Mom!? Putting me through anything and everything to keep me alive! Do you think you've ever asked me how I felt about everything!?" I yelled so loud, my voice started to crack, not mention I had a river of salt water running down my face. Gross. My mother just stood there, staring, silent, speechless, yet sobbing.

"I am dying, Mom. I am in pain. You may have sympathy pain, you may be just as scared as I am, if not worse because you could lose a child. But you will NEVER, EVER know the pain that I've gone through, the pain that I have felt for NINE YEARS! Nine years, Mom. Have you ever had to tally how many bloody noses you've had in a day? No, I have. Have you ever passed out just because you had to WALK to the bathroom? No, I have. Have you ever sat there and planned how you want your funeral to be. No... I have. I talk about death and dying and heaven because it comforts me. I know that I'll be okay. I don't want to leave this earth cowardly and afraid. I want to leave it proudly. I want to leave it... knowing that I had a family that supported me for all these years. I want to leave it knowing that my family knows that I'm better up there, where ever that may be. THAT is why I talk about it. I'm NOT being selfish, Mom. I'm preparing myself for something better."

My mom's face was completely indescribable. She looked like she had just been shot in the heart. She had to hear it. She had to understand. She had to prepare herself. I turned around and walked up stairs, leaving my mom alone in the kitchen. I could hear her crying from all the way upstairs. Yes, I felt terrible for making her feel like shit, but my Mom is just a hard person to get things through to. I love her, but sometimes she makes me want to shake her into reality. Because right now, she's definitely not there.

I collapsed on my bed and fell asleep, not saying a single word to my mom for the rest of the night. But during the middle of the night, I rolled over in my bed and there she was, sleeping right next to me. I guess I startled her because she opened her eyes and we kind of just stared at each other for a really long time.

"You blinked. I win." My mom whispered, and then smirked, revealing her dimples. I laughed quietly. Then I closed my eyes and moved in closer to her and she took me in her arms and I felt like she was never going to let go. I felt so safe in my mother's arms. Like a new born baby or something. I don't know, it's kind of hard to explain.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I love you." My mom whispered to me.

"I know you are, it's okay. I love you too." I whispered back.

And then, we slept for hours upon hours.

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**I'm sorry, I know it's short. But this is by far the best thing I've written. I'm very happy with it. It's very heart wrenching and serious and total real. The next chapter we'll get to hear Lucas's point of view and maybe even from another certain person.**

**PEACE&LOVE.  
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	3. I Screamed The Truth Til' I Lost My Mind

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**Alright, so here is chapter 3. This chapter mostly focus's on what leads Brooke and Lucas to there divorce and the struggle they are both having dealing with Maggie's illness. Lucas thinks Brooke is closing him, Riley and Bailey out of her life and only focusing on Maggie. Brooke thinks otherwise and she's not very happy about it. This chapter gets a little physical, but I won't tell you what kind.**

**ENJOY!  
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_December 13th, 2018_

_Lucas_

I love my children, I love them very much. I wish I could say the same for my wife. It's hard for me to love her. I wish It wasn't though. I really wish it wasn't. We just don't love each other like we used to. Everything has taken a turn for the worst in our relationship. We don't even _kiss _anymore, and we don't have the time to have sex, but when we do, we're never in the mood. Brooke usually sleeps in Maggie's room, and I usually sleep in the bed or on the couch. We just don't communicate anymore. When we do communicate, it's through yelling and it's always about Maggie. We both hide behind her. Isn't that sad? We use our sick, twelve year old daughter as an excuse to not talk about each other and our problems. But, the truth is, we really don't have time to discuss our problems.

Christmas was coming soon and privately, Brooke and I had talked about getting a divorce, I pushed it, she wasn't really agreeing with me. What broke our hearts the most was having to explain it to Maggie, if we did decide to go on with divorce. Brooke thought we were being selfish and that we should just stay together for Maggie's sake. I somewhat agreed, but it was time for us to at least separate. Brooke had different views.

"Lucas, I really don't have the time for this right now. Maggie is in her last week of chemo and it's hitting her really hard, we just need to be there for her and put our personal issues to the side." Brooke said as she was on her laptop paying bills.

"Brooke, if we don't talk about this now, then we won't ever talk about it." I said, trying to pursue her.

"Maybe that's it. Maybe if we don't talk about it, we'll be okay. Getting a divorce is just going to cause even more stress in this house, Luke, especially on Maggie. It won't make her health any better." Brooke said, with worry in her voice. She never smiled anymore, she was just never, ever truly happy. I think the last time I saw Brooke truly happy was when Bailey was born.

"Brooke, I understand that, but Maggie is mature for her age, she'll understand. She knows we fight, she's asked me about it. All we have to do is sit down and talk to her." I said, hoping Brooke would agree along some lines, I was sadly mistaken. Maybe I shouldn't have put it in that context.

"She'll understand? Lucas, our daughter is twelve years old and she has Leukemia! Do you expect her to be okay when we tell her that we aren't going to be together anymore? You don't think that that's going to hurt her in any way at all? You think she's gonna be okay with that?" At this point Brooke was yelling.

"I'm not saying that she's gonna be okay with it. All I'm saying is that when we talk to her about it, she's probably not going to be surprised to hear it. All we fucking do is fight, Brooke. We can't even hold a normal conversation! For Christ's sake we don't even sleep in the same fucking bed! Just because our daughter is dying, doesn't mean that you have the right to just push me and Riley and Bailey out of your life!" I yelled. I soon later regretted saying that. Brooke got up from the bed and slapped me hard in my face.

"She is not dying! Get Out!" Brooke shouted.

"Brooke... I--" She wouldn't even let me finish. She shoved me into the dresser, then she started hitting me in my chest. I made the wrong mistake of hitting her in the face. It wasn't right of me, I shouldn't have done it. The minute I did, I felt terrible. Not only did I hit a woman, I hit my wife. She fell to the ground, holding her face she looked up at me and in shock, with tears falling down her face.

"Brooke, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I.... I didn't--" I was interrupted by Brooke pointing her finger at me.

"I want you out of this house, NOW!" She screamed. I had never heard Brooke yell so loud in my whole life of knowing her. I picked up my keys, walked down the stairs, slammed the door and left.

_December 13th, 2018_

_Brooke_

I lay there on the floor in shock. I couldn't believe that Lucas, my husband of almost 13 years, hit me. How dare he say that Maggie is dying and how dare her tell me that I don't love my other children. I sat there, motionless on the floor, the slamming of the door made me jump, then I heard crying in the other room. It was my 4 year old, Bailey. I got up to go check on her in her room.

"Hi baby, mama's here. You okay, sweetheart?" I said as she wrapped her tiny little arms around my body and buried her face into my stomach. She was crying hysterically, I didn't know what about.

"Baby, tell mama what's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?" I said, trying to comfort my youngest girl, I rubbed her back, it always made her relax.

"Dada's scary, mommy." My heart broke. I guess I didn't realize until now how loud we had let our voices travel. Bailey's room was only two doors down from ours. I squeezed her tight into my body.

"Oh, baby, Daddy's not scary, he was just a little mad at mommy. He didn't mean to wake you up, sweetheart." Explaining a domestic disturbance to a 4 year old is not the easiest thing to do. You have to speak very tenderly about it as if it's no big deal. Bailey's attention span was very short, so she always changed the subject every 2 minutes.

"Mama, can I seep wif you in Maggie's woom?" I loved listening to Bailey's voice. She had my raspy voice, but higher pitched, obviously, and she couldn't pronounce a few of her letters correctly yet.

"Of course you can, let's go check on her." I smiled and scooped Bailey out of her bed and put her into my arms and I carried her to Maggie's room. It was only 9pm, so I figured she may still be awake. Of course she was.

"Hi, honey, mind if me and Bailey join you?" I asked Maggie.

"Sure." She said, flipping the covers up so we could all squeeze in.

"Mommy in the middle!" Bailey said. She always has to sleep by me and I know Maggie wants me by her side, so of course I'd have to sleep in the middle.

"How's my girl feelin?" I asked Maggie. Her back was facing me, she was laying on her side when she rolled over.

"I'm okay, getting tired... Mom, did Dad do that to your eye?" I forgot that my eye was probably a little red or starting to bruise, I should have covered it up or something. I couldn't believe she just asked that. I guess I also didn't realize that Maggie isn't 6 years old anymore and she knows what goes on in this house.

"Nah, Mama just had a fall, that's all." I said, giving Maggie a kiss on her cheek.

"Well, it doesn't look so good, you should probably put some ice on it or something." Maggie always seemed to put herself before others. She was just a genuinely kind heart-ed little girl. Always thinking of others before herself.

"I'm not too worried about it. But, I am worried that if you don't get any rest, you're gonna feel worse in the morning, so maybe you should just close your eyes." I said to my daughter. I wrapped her in my arms. Her skin was cold, and it was a ghostly pale white, the bags under her eyes looked like black eyes, and her hair was falling out. My daughter is beautiful.

"Is Daddy coming home?" Maggie asked.

"I really don't know, baby, I'm sure he'll be home sometime tonight." I replied back, I was starting to dose off. I was pretty tired myself and I just wanted to pretend like the fight Lucas and I had, never happened.

"I'm sorry that you're sad." Maggie said back.

"Mama's not sad, Maggie, just tired, now get some rest, sweetheart." I said back to her. Lucas was right about one thing. She did seem to understand that we were fighting. I didn't expect her not to, I just didn't expect her to actually say anything or want to talk about it. I still think that it's selfish. I just couldn't bare to see my children, hurt enough as they already are, but even more hurt after we tell them mommy and daddy aren't going to be together anymore, especially Maggie. I just feel like this shouldn't be happening.

I hope Lucas actually comes home tonight.

* * *

**I know, this is a really depressing story. It's probably going to be like that for awhile. Though, I'm sure there will be some really good, happy flash backs. We shall see. Until then, I'm still trying to conjure up some good stuff for Chapter 4. REVIEWS PLEASE!! :D**


	4. Our Hell Is A Good Life

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**Alright, everybody, here's Chapter 4. I hope you guys enjoy it. This chapter focuses on Maggie's 15th birthday and the whole family coming together for it. There's tears, anger, laughter, and love.**

**Keepin this short and sweet! PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! :)**

**Thanks,**

**-Eleni**

* * *

Chapter 4.

"Our Hell Is A Good Life"

_**Maggie**_

_**May 29th, 2020**_

It's my birthday and I feel good today. The first birthday I've spent outside of the hospital. You don't know an awesome feeling until it's this kind of feeling. Despite my parents divorce, they're here at the house, together, trying to get a long and set up for my birthday. I love them for that. Dad and Nathan were making some awesome food that I probably wouldn't eat and Mom and Aunt Haley were helping each other decorate all around the house. All of the little ones were running in and out of the house and as annoying as it was, I didn't care. Let them live a child's life. I didn't get to do any of that. Well, I did for five years until my poor little body couldn't take it. I love my family, but I hate them for feeling sorry for me. I can see it in there eyes, especially when my mother looks at me. Each eye tells a different story, but they both consist of pain, agony and despair, so it doesn't matter the stories they tell. It's obvious and I can tell she puts on one of her fake smiles to pretend nothing is wrong because she knows I hate it when she looks at me like that. I was sitting at the kitchen table with my best friend, Jamie waiting for Jenny to arrive with Jake and Peyton and watching everyone else working, laughing, getting a long. Bailey, my 6 year old sister came running up to Dad.

"Daddy!" Bailey ran towards my Dad, jumping into his arms.

"Hey Bear, how's my girl?" Dad said, embracing her in his arms, giving her a hug.

"Well, Dylan is being mean." Bailey said with a scrunched face, yet her eyes were like lightening bolts. Big, green lightening boltz. She had the most electric eyes I've ever seen. Very similar to Mom's.

"Oh, is he? Anything I can report to his Mommy and Daddy when they get here?" Dad said, referring to Jake and Peyton.

"He told me you don't love Mommy anymore because you love Emily instead and I told him he was a big fat liar." Bailey said. She sounded so innocent when she would talk.

God dammit, Dylan. I love the kid to death, but it seems like he eaves drops on everything. At just 7 years old, the kid knows almost too much for his own good. Either he eaves drops or Jake and Peyton can't seem keep their voices lowered when they decide to talk about their best friends in front of their mischievous children.

Mom was smiling while she was helping Aunt Haley decorate, but once Bailey spoke those words, Mom's smile went away and she pretended like she didn't hear anything. I couldn't stop looking at her. I felt horrible.

"Well you tell Dylan that I still love your mommy, okay?"

Liar.

"Okay, I will tell him! I knew he was wrong! ...HEY DYLAN!" Bailey said as she ran back outside. I wish I was that young to where my parents would just lie to me and tell me they love each other when they don't. It makes a kid like Bailey very happy.

Once Bailey had left the kitchen, the room became quiet, nobody would break the silence. It was awkward and you could feel the tension rising between my Mom and Dad. Thankfully the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" I yelled, running for the door.

"Maggie Elizabeth, please don't run. The last thing I need is for you to trip and fall." My Mom yelled to me from the kitchen as I still ran to the door.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry Mom." I said as I opened the door. It was Peyton, Jake and Jenny.

"Great timing guys, everyone's in the kitchen." I said as they all walked in and gave me hugs.

"Hey Jamie! Me and Jenny are going up to my room!" I yelled. I didn't feel like going to get him, but I also didn't want to leave him down there with the screaming children and the jabbering about nonsense adults.

* * *

We all headed up to my room. As I walked past Riley's door, I decided that I would go in and see what he was up to.

"Hey, guys I'll meet you in my room." I said. They nodded and walked into my room as I knocked on Riley's door.

"Hey, shrimp cocktail, it's your big sis, can I come in?" I joked. My brother was very dainty and small, all the more reason to call him shrimp cocktail.

"Yeah, sure." He said. I walked in and noticed he had something, looked like a note pad. He tried hiding it.

"Watchya got there, knucklehead?" I asked, giving his hair a good shake down by my hand.

"Oh, it's nothing, just uhh.. just some drawings and stuff. I've been doing it in my spare time. I obviously have a lot of that since I'm grounded." Riley said, sounding extremely bored with life. He was grounded the first month of summer for getting in a fight 3 days before school let out. The other kid started it, but it was my Dad's idea to ground Riley. Mom thought otherwise because it was summer time, Dad just thought that a punishment was a punishment no matter what the occasion was. It seems like he's gotten a lot more strict over the years.

"I know buddy, but don't worry, you got til' the end of June." I said, smiling, but not really getting his hopes up considering it was only May 29th and the fight was seriously three days ago.

"I know." Riley said, sounding defeated as he bombed his head to his pillow on his bed.

"So are you gonna let me look at those drawings of yours? Or is it top secret?" I asked, smiling. Riley was always so secretive about everything. He was always quiet. It's kind of because of my Mom and Dad. At least, that's how I see it. He's the middle child, he never really got to grow up a happy kid. He experienced and still experiences neglect when it comes to our parents worrying about me. I feel sorry for him and my Mom and Dad need to understand that he needs attention to, whether or not he's the youngest or has cancer. Riley was just very good at staying out of everyone's way. But it shouldn't be like that.

"Yeah... I guess." He said, handing me the notebook.

I flipped the cover of the notebook open and the very first picture was a pencil sketch of our dog, Sundance. The next page was a sketch of some action figurine or something, maybe a Transformer. The next page was pencil sketch of our Mother. He was really good for being only 9 years old. The next page was a sketch of me. I couldn't believe how talented my little brother was. I was proud of him. It was all kind of new to me because I never really knew many things that Riley was interested in aside from skateboarding, basketball, and playing video games.

"Ry! Dude, these are fantastic! You should show Mom and Dad! I bet Mom would do back flips if she saw the picture you drew of her." I said, showing my appreciation for his drawings. He smirked a little bit, revealing the Brooke Davis inherited dimples that all three of us own. But then the dimples disappeared, and he looked sad.

"Nah. If I show Dad, he'll probably just tell me that they're awesome while his eyes are glued to his laptop and If I try and show Mom, she probably won't even notice I'm there." Riley said. Poor kid. He doesn't deserve this. I can't believe my parents don't know how remarkable their only son is.

"Believe me, buddy, they'll notice. I'll make them notice, if I have to." I said, rustling his sandy blond hair around on the top of his head.

"You need to get your haircut, shaggy." I said, after realizing his hair was almost past his ears.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that." Riley said, fixing his hair, while revealing a small smile due to his tiny bit of laughter.

"Oh, he has a sense of humor!? I had no idea. Welcome back Riley Scott." I said, poking his sides.

"Hey, quit!" Riley said, still smiling.

"Alright, alright, well, me, Jenny and Jamie will be in my room if you wanna come hang with us until dinner is ready?" I asked my little brother as I arose from his bed.

"Nah. I think I'm gonna start a new drawing." He said, grabbing his pencil and sketchpad.

"Alright. See you later then, Ry." I said, walking to the door.

"See ya, Mags." Riley said, while his eyes were focused on the new drawing he was about to create.

As I got to the doorway of his room, I turned around and said something that just needed to be said, wrong or right.

"Hey, Riley?" I questioned.

"Yeah." He looked up.

"I'm sorry." I said softly. Riley looked confused. His forehead began to wrinkle and his eyebrows were scrunched.

"What are you sorry for, Maggie?" He asked, in confusion.

"For making Mom and Dad pay more attention to me than to you. They probably don't realize they're doing it, but I'm gonna let them know that. Mark my words, kid." I finished, walked out of his room and closed the door. I wanted him to hear me, I didn't want him to say anything back, or try to defend me or my parents. That's usually what he does. He doesn't want anything to be about him because he's so used to being ignored. He's 9 years old for christ's sake. Mom and Dad need to be reminded of that.

* * *

Jamie, Jenny and I sat up in my room for a long while just waiting around for dinner, cake, and presents.

"So, Mags, did you ask for anything cool for your birthday?" Jenny asked as she painted her nails on my bed.

"You wanna know somethin funny?" I asked back to Jenny.

"What?" Jenny asked. Jamie looking my way as well.

"I didn't ask for anything." I simply said.

"Really!? Why wouldn't you ask for any presents on your birthday?" Jenny asked. Jamie understood why I didn't. Jenny was just really thick minded, so it was hard for her to comprehend most things. We still love her though. I went ahead and explained. But, the explanation was very short and to the point and I think it made Jamie mad, and Jenny looked like she was about to cry.

"I didn't ask for anything because in a couple of years I probably won't be here to use any of it." I said. I think that talking like that is normal. Especially for someone who has had the sickness of leukemia for almost 10 years. Others hate it. Especially my Mom and Jamie.

"Jesus, Maggie, talk about being blunt." Jamie said, sounding angry.

"But it's the truth, Jamie. Look at me." I said, with my arms out. I actually had hair this time though, my very own. It was growing back, but i still wore bandannas all the time just because I was so used to them. I probably only weighed around 90lbs, my skin had this sickly pale, yet purple tint to it and my eyes, as usual, looked like they had been punched by the incredible hulk.

Jamie stood up from my computer chair and walked towards me.

"I don't see anything wrong with you. I think you're beautiful." Jamie spoke softly, kissed me on the cheek, and walked out of my room. Jamie liked to walk away from things that made him angry. If he didn't, his temper would get a little out of control.

Me and Jamie have this special bond. I like to compare it to how my Dad and Aunt Haley were when they were younger. He's like my big brother, only a week older than me, but still. The point is, I love how much this boy cares for everyone. He always puts himself before others. He definitely inherited that from his beautiful, genius of a Mother.

My Mom eventually yelled up the stairs to let us all know that dinner was ready. We all ran downstairs, everyone ate, though I didn't really eat much. I can't or else I'd probably vomit everywhere, plus sick people don't usually have an appetite. All of a sudden it was time for presents. Even though I told everyone that I didn't want anything, I couldn't stop them and knew they would get me something anyways. Aunt Peyton and Uncle Jake got me a bunch of new cd's that I had talked about, like The Smiths, Matthew Ryan, Pete Yorn and Metric. They also bought me a nice set of new paint brushes that I actually desperately needed. I like to freestyle paint on huge canvases, it's definitely a stress reliever. Aunt Haley and Uncle Nathan bought me more awesome bandannas to wear because they knew how much I liked wearing them and they also got me a Charlotte Bobcat's basketball jersey that said "Maggie 'The Rock' Scott" on the back of it. The reason why it says "The Rock" is because Aunt Haley would always call me that. She always told me how strong I was. Makes sense. Finally it was time to see what parents got me. Dad handed me a rectangular shaped box, almost looked like what a DVD would look like wrapped up, but thicker, and it was heavier. I ripped off the wrapping paper, revealing a beautiful, red leather journal. It had a buckle to close and open and my name was scripted on the front of it in the bottom right corner; "Maggie Elizabeth Scott." I looked up and my dad and smiled.

"Thank you, Daddy." I got up and hugged him. He squeezed me tight.

"You're welcome, baby. Whenever you're feelin sad, or mad or angry or even happy, write in that journal." My Dad simply said.

"I will." I gave him a kiss on the cheek and went to go sit back down at the table.

"Don't sit down yet. Maggie come upstairs with me. Your present is in my room." My mom said, holding her hand out to mine. I grabbed it and we walked hand in hand up the stairs to her bedroom.

* * *

"Alright, sit on the bed and close your eyes." My Mother said. So I did, crossing my legs, indian style. I heard her open up her closet door, I didn't dare peek, though. Even though I said I didn't want presents, I was kind of excited to know what the wonderful Brooke Davis, my Mother, got me.

"Okay, still keeping your eyes closed?" Mom asked.

"Yep." I replied back.

All of a sudden, I felt this warmth wrap around me like a cloak, it was a good feeling. I could feel my Mother's dainty arms wrapped around my neck.

"Okay, open." She said as she kissed me on the cheek.

I opened my eyes to see what that warmth was that had gathered around me. I look down and notice that it's a blanket.

"Alright, now lay it out on the bed so we can look at it." Mom said, with a smile on her face.

My Mother had made me a quilt. It was the prettiest thing I had ever seen. There were pictures of the whole family on it. Beautiful embroidery, beautiful fabrics, beautiful everything. I pointed to a picture I had never seen before.

"Is that your big ol' tummy, Mom?" I chuckled a little bit. It was a black and white processed photo of a pregnant stomach and feminine like hands gently holding it.

"It sure is. And, we can't see you, but you were in there somewhere too." Mom said, smiling, showing her perfectly straight, white teeth. I smiled back at her.

I leaned my head against my Mother's shoulder as she put her arm around me while we reminisced over all of the photos on the quilt.

"Wow, was that Daddy?" I said, pointing to what looked like a very old photo of the Ravens Basketball team.

"Uh huh. And there's Uncle Nathan and Uncle Jake." Mom pointed out.

We kept gazing at all the photos. I was just amazed by it all. Pictures of me, Riley and Bailey hugging, kissing, and playing with each other, pictures of Me and Aunt Peyton and Haley, pictures of me my Father and I, my Mother and I. Pictures of me as a baby, eating peas for the first time. That was a funny one. Pictures of Mom and Dad when they were still teenagers in high school. As I was looking at everything it made me realize how beautiful of a family I had. How amazing everyone was. A single tear fell down my face and I wiped it away.

"Mommy, this is the best thing I've ever had. I'm gonna sleep with it every night." I said as I hugged my Mom. She started crying too. She was so freaking sensitive. But that's okay, I still love her.

"I'm glad you like it, baby. I just want you to know how much I love you, Riley and Bailey." She said, still hugging me. We parted from each other and she wiped my tears away and smiled.

"LADIES! COME ON! EVERYONE WANTS TO EAT THE CAKE!" Uncle Nathan yelled up the stairs.

We both laughed, and my Mom gave me a kiss on my forehead.

"I love you, Mom." I said.

"Love you too, sweet girl."

We finally got off the bed and headed downstairs back to the kitchen.

* * *

The lights were off but the cake was glowing with the candles that had been set ablaze. They sang happy birthday to me (which I've always hated, but excepted it just this one night), I made a wish and then blew out the candles. Everybody said there "yays" and "woos" gave me hugs and kisses and birthday wishes.

"Happy Birfday, Maga, I made this for you." Bailey said as she handed me a cute little decorated card she had made herself.

"Aw, thanks a lot, Bear." I said, giving my youngest sister a hug.

All the adults smiled and laughed at how cute and attention craved my little sister was.

Riley all of a sudden came up to me with a slightly sad look on his face.

"What's up, Ry?" I asked in concern.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry cause I didn't get you anything." Riley said, with his head down. Then I got this great idea.

"You know what? There is something you have that I want." I said. Riley thought I was crazy, not knowing what I was talking about.

"...What?" He asked, deeply confused. Everyone was kind of quiet and listening in, including our parents.

"Go grab your sketchbook and let me pick out a drawing you did." I said.

Riley looked a little embarrassed.

"Riley, I didn't know you sketched, buddy, you better go get those drawings because I definitely wanna see them." Aunt Peyton said, getting a little excited.

"Yes, as do I." My Mom said, smiling.

Riley gave me the evil eye. I know he hated the attention right now, but he'll love it in about 5 minutes. He ran upstairs to grab his sketchbook and then right back downstairs into the kitchen he came. He handed the sketchbook to me. I flipped through the sketchbook as I had once done before and found the one of me.

"Is it cool if I have this one?" I said as I purposely held it up high facing everyone so they could see it. Riley shook his head yes.

"Did my Riley Davis Scott draw that?" Mom said, in shock as she walked over to him.

"Yeah, I did." Riley said.

"Wow, buddy that's amazing." Dad said, patting him on his head.

Riley began to smile a lot.

"Yeah, Mom you should see the picture he drew of you." I said, flipping the page to where her picture was.

Everyone was so focused on Riley and talking to him about drawing. This was the real gift that I wanted. For Riley to feel comfortable in his own skin with his own family. To not feel left out or neglected. To feel like he's apart of something. Today is the best day. I love my family.

* * *

**Alright, so there you have it everyone. I hope you enjoyed. I think this is the longest chapter I've written for this story. Tell me how guys feel about Maggie's little brother, Riley. I feel sorry for the poor kid. And I know you guys are probably wondering why a certain part of this story sounded so familiar. If you're thinking of the quilt Brooke made for Maggie then you're right. I did get the idea from the movie, Step-Mom if any of you have ever seen it. Though, these days I've actually seen a quilt made with photos in it in real life, not just in the movies. I thought it was the perfect gift for Maggie from Brooke. Anyways, I'm all done rambling now. PLEASE REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

**Thanks,**

**-Eleni.**


	5. I Will Find A Way To You, If It Kills Me

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**Hello Everyone. This is chapter 5 and just to let you know ahead of time, it's very short, but I think it was much needed. I'm also going to apologize to all you die-hard Brucas fans that are reading this story, because this is a Julian segment. I'm very neutral when it comes to the oth couples. I like to sort of keep it all the same (minus the fact that Lucas is dating a mysterious woman named Emily and Jake and Peyton are married, but that's how it had to happen for my story)** **But I just wanted you all to know that this was never a Brooke and Lucas story. It is, but it's not love, that's for sure.** **I hope this doesn't stop some of you guys from reading the story! It's more about Maggie than anything! Stay true! :)**

**Anyways, I'll quit rambling. This chapter introduces Julian. I just did this on a whim. I'm stuck at home on a Sunday night and the idea popped into my head, so I thought, why not? I definitely like this chapter. It's not depressing. It's just comfortable and hopefully it will make you smile.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

"**I Will Find A Way To You, If It Kills Me"**

_Julian_

_August 5th, 2020_

_Present Day_

I don't know this woman. I don't know anything about her. Her name, her age, her marital status, if that little girl with her is her daughter, is that her only child? Would she even be interested in a guy like me? Should I casually bump into her? Knock something out of her hands, help her pick it up? Introduce myself? She's coming closer. The little girl is holding her hand, fidgeting to let go as the woman pushes the cart down the isle. I'm just standing behind the refrigerator door like a creep, staring, but pretending to read the back of some awful food product that I'm holding. This woman is just so beautiful. I have to know her.

"Mommy, can I please sit in the cart!?" The little girl begged.

I guess that is her daughter.

"Bailey, you know what Mommy says. You're a big girl, you're old enough to walk, you don't need to sit in the cart, plus they're full of germs anyways, it's icky, sweetheart." The woman said back to her daughter. She said it sweetly. She had a comforting voice.

"Fine." The depressed sounding little girl said. She then let go of her Mother's hand and began to run towards where I was standing.

"Mommy! Can we get ice cream please!?" The little girl shouted as she ran closer.

"BAILEY PEYTON SCOTT, DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" The woman yelled. Looks like someone was about to get in the trouble. I guess the little girl didn't notice the "caution wet floor" sign. She was about to run right to where the wet floor was. This is my cue. I could see the woman power walking to her child. The little girl was running closer to the wet floor, about to slip.

"Bailey!" The woman yelled once more. This little girl was a spark plug. I closed the refrigerator door and put my arm out and caught her.

"Whoa, kid. You better be careful. You could have busted your head open." I said.

I was nervous. The woman probably thought I was trying to kidnap her kid or something. I didn't want it to come off like that. Oh no, here she comes. I can't tell if she's about to yell at her daughter or at me for touching her.

"Bailey Scott, you get your sorry little toosh back to the cart right now. We are gonna have a serious talk about you and your poor listening skills. You could have hurt yourself, little bear." The woman said. She was bent down at eye level to her daughter. She caressed her cheek and the little girl obeyed. She wasn't one of those evil grocery store moms. She seemed cool, calm, and collected. Like she knew what she was doing. The little girl continued to walk but then she turned around and got my attention.

"Hey Mister!" She yelled. Assuming she was referring to me. I looked at her.

"Thanks for saving me!" She said, with a cute little smile. Her two front teeth were missing, she had long, wavy, dark brown hair, and she was very tiny. She couldn't have been no more than 7 years old.

"No, problem, kid. But I bet you should probably listen to your Mom more often, so strange men like me don't have to save you from busting your head open." I said, grinning. The woman had a small smile across her face.

"Thank you so much, if you weren't there, she would've definitely busted her head open." The woman said sounding very relieved.

"Would you like to get dinner sometime?" Woops. Way to go, dude. Word vomit to the extreme. Now she probably thinks I'm some creep. One of her eyebrows raised.

"Excuse me?" She simply asked. I would be confused too.

"I'm sorry... That came out wrong. I didn't mean to be so forward. I just... I noticed you earlier. I... uhhh... oh, now I just sound like a stalker. Look, I'm sorry, now I'm just embarrassed. It was nice meeting you, whoever you are." I blew it big time. The face she was making looked like she was embarrassed for me too. I grabbed my cart and turned around to walk away.

"Brooke." She said. She had this cute little smirk on her face. Brooke. I felt like I had waited centuries just know this beautiful woman's name. I felt like that was just enough to go from. I turned around to look at the woman named Brooke.

"My name is Brooke Davis. I have three kids. Two daughters, one son. They are my life. I'm not married, not looking for a boyfriend, but I could use a nice dinner sometime. Unless, you're too embarrassed now?" She said, chuckling at the last words she spoke. I smiled and grabbed my wallet.

"Here's my card. Give me a call sometime. I'd be glad to make you a nice dinner. Firecracker is more than welcome to join us." I said, pointing to her little girl, making a joke. Brooke laughed.

"She'd be better off at home with her brother and sister." She said. She looked down at my card.

"Mom, can we go now? I'm hungry!" The little girl yelled from the cart. Brooke laughed again. Her smile was contagious. I wanted to kiss her right then and there, but that would just be wrong and inappropriate.

"Well, Julian Baker, it was very nice to meet you, but I have to get home to make dinner for my starving children." She said, still smiling. I couldn't stop smiling either.

"It was nice to meet you too, Brooke Davis. You have a good night." I said. And with that she turned around, walked to her cart and pushed it away, with her little girl in tow.

I was still smiling. I couldn't stop. There was something about this woman that made me want to pull a Tom Cruise and jump on couches, screaming how much I love her. Could I love her? I don't know anything about her except for that she has three kids and she's not married. I've never felt like this before. I mean, I've loved someone, but this woman, I just met. It doesn't make any sense to me. I wish she would've given me her number. She's probably not going to call me.

* * *

**I know it was short and I'm sorry, but I thought that where I stopped writing was a good stopping point. There will be more of this to come.**

**  
albluvscbg**- **I'll** **definitely keep writing about Emily in mind. You all really should know about the new lady in Lucas's life. Is she mean? Sweet? Perfect? Normal? Jealous?** **I don't know yet. Keep reading and please please please tell me what you all think about the Julian chapter!** **REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS!**

**Thanks,**

**-Eleni.  
**


	6. Whisper Until I Fall Apart

**AUTHOR'S NOTE****!**

**Hey Everyone, I know it's been ages. I have just been so so busy this past month having being offered a position on photographing a band at certain venues in my area, needless to say... they played at a lot of venues in the area lol. I seriously haven't had time to even check my Facebook! Haha. But now that all that has blown over, not saying that I wish it finally did because I was having a blast, but it's nice to finally get back on the computer and get back to pleasing my small little fan base. To any of you out there who read "The Cautioner" or "In The Realm Of The Basses" , There will be more chapters in the very near future, I promise! I know a lot of you have sent me messages demanding that I hurry my butt up and to stop leaving you all hanging! Take my word for it, there will soon be more chapters. The only thing else I have left to say is that this Chapter focuses on Maggie, Brooke, and Julian. It ended abruptly and I apologize, I just kind of lost touch of the chapter. So, with that being said, it will be a "To Be Continued..." type of thing. **

**Anyways, I'm all done rambling now. I hope you guys enjoy! REVIEWS ARE 3!**

**Thanks,**

**-ME.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**"Whisper Until I Fall Apart"**

_Maggie_

_August 7th, 2020_

_Present Day_

I want to rip my guts out. I feel like my stomach is going to come out of my mouth. The harder I cough, the more I feel like I'm going to lose my balance and fall. It's in the middle of the night and I'm slowly making my way to the bathroom. Mom is sleeping in her room with Bailey. She's usually in here so she can keep watch of things like this. I want to handle this all by myself. But I don't think I can. My head feels like the heaviest part on my body. I feel like if I move at all, the other bones in my body will shatter. I feel like a fragile piece of shit. Seriously, it's the truth. These are times where It's too hard to stay positive. I lean over and the echo of my coughing is so loud in the toilet that I wouldn't be surprised if everyone woke up. The water in the toilet looks like the Red Sea. I'm vomiting blood... once again. I looked at my pale arms hanging limp over the seat of the toilet. They were nothing more than just a layer of skin covering bone. It disgusted me. I always wondered what I would look like If I didn't have cancer. My eyes started becoming heavy, this is where I yell for Mom, because I could close my eyes and never wake up and let's face it, I'd rather do that in the hospital than in my bathroom and have my Mother find me. I would feel horrible.

"Mom.." I weakly shouted.

"Mom!" I tried yelling a bit louder. Then I hear someone walk into the bathroom, but it wasn't my Mom. It was Riley.

"Maggie..." Riley said, frightened of the blood bath in the bathroom.

"Ry, get Mommy. Please..." I said, pathetically.

"K!" Riley said, running out of my room into our Mom's room.

"Mommy! Wake up, Maggie doesn't look so good." Riley shouted as he shook our Mother.

Her eyes were wide at the sound of my name. She immediately got out of the bed.

"Stay here with your sister, honey." My Mom said, referring to Bailey.

She came running into my room, not seeing me, she automatically went to the bathroom. I knew that I needed her here. Just her presence made me feel warm and so much better.

"Oh, baby. Come here, lets get you cleaned up." My Mom said in such a sympathetically sad voice. She was referring to the blood on my face. My nose had started bleeding too. This would be the side affects of chemotherapy and radiation. It's really nothing to get your panties in a bunch about. To tell you the truth, I felt like a weak, pathetic, girl.

My Mother knelt down beside me, grabbed a wet towel and wiped my face off.

"I hate this." I said under my breath.

"I know you do, honey. I know you do, and Mom's so sorry for that." She said, sounding like she was about to cry.

"Mom, It's not your fault, don't be sorry. Please don't cry." I said, weakly looking up to her.

"Do you feel like you're going to be sick again?" My mom asked.

"No." I simply answered.

"Okay. Let's get you to your bed then, you need to rest." She said, helping me up off the ground.

With that, she took me to my bed. She layed with me, and no more than five minutes later, Riley and Baliey came in with pillows and blankets and slept on the floor. I hope tomorrow I feel better.

* * *

_Brooke_

_August 14th, 2020_

_(1 week later)_

"Mom, you look fine. Just relax." Maggie said, trying to calm me down.

"I'm just nervous. What if I do something stupid? What if he hates me?" I couldn't help but think like that. I haven't been on a date, let alone spent a nice night out with another man since before I met Lucas.

"Mom, I'm pretty sure if that does happen, he has no room to talk. He asked you out for dinner before you even introduced yourself. It's not gonna happen anyways. I don't think that this guy is going to hate you even if you do something stupid. You're pretty awesome, and you look beautiful, so just enjoy yourself. Have fun. We will be fine with Aunt Haley." _She's so right, why am I freaking out?_

"Ugh. You're right. I don't know why I'm freaking out. I guess I'm mostly just worried about you." It was so hard leaving her in someone else's care.

"Well, stop. You don't have to worry about me. I've made it this far, I think I'll be okay for a night with out you. I'll be in good hands. We all will be." Ah, Haley was always quite the savior. _Wait... Haley... where is she? Oh god, she's late._

"Speaking of... Where is she? She was suppose to be here like 10 minutes ago." I said grabbing for my cell phone. Maggie hopped off of my bed and grabbed the phone out of my hands.

"Mom! I will call Aunt Haley. Finish getting ready, please and we'll see you downstairs." She sounded like me bossing the kids around. It was kind of funny.

"Okay, okay." I watched Maggie walk out of the room and head downstairs.

I'm sitting there looking at myself in the mirror, making sure everything looks okay, make-up looks fine, hair looks good, dress is perfect. We're good. Then my youngest, Bailey came running up the stairs.

"Mommy! Aunt Haley is here with Jamie. JULIAN IS HERE TOO!" Bailey shouted. She said Julian's name as if he were Santa Clause or something. Now my nerves were coming back.

"Oh, goodness. Let's head down." I said, picking Bailey up and walking down the stairs.

"Mama, you look very pretty. And you smell nice." Bailey sweetly said.

"Well, that's very sweet of you, Bear. You're pretty pretty yourself." I said giving her an Eskimo kiss and a big kiss like we always do. She giggled and I put her down and she ran to Haley. Julian was standing by the door, just observing everything around him. I decided I should probably introduce the kids to him.

"Julian, I assume you remember little miss demolition from the grocery store?" I said, putting hand on top of Bailey's head, giving it a rub.

"How could I forget? It's Bailey, right?" Julian said ever so swiftly.

"Uh huh, that's it. But you can call me Bear. Everyone else does. It's cause I'm snugly like a bear." Bailey said smiling, showing her nonexistent two front teeth. I adored her smile. Everyone was laughing at Bailey's introduction.

"And this is my Mr. Handsome, my son, Riley. He's the man of the house." I said, pointing to Riley's direction. He stood, broad shouldered, trying to look like the tough guy in the room.

"Well, I guess I've got some competition, then huh?" Julian said, reaching out to shake Riley's hand, like men do, but he didn't shake back. Well, he didn't until he noticed my evil squinted eyes laser-ed on him. He rolled his eyes and then shook Julian's hand. I laughed in embarrassment.

"Yeah, we're still working on his gentlemen like manners." I said, eying him once more. Julian just made a face of understanding.

"And last but not least, this is Maggie, my oldest." I said, walking over to Maggie. I put my arm around her. Her face lit up and she reached her hand out to shake Julian's.

"It's very nice to meet you, Maggie." Julian said. He seemed so humbling.

"It's very nice to meet you, Julian." Maggie said, the two were both smiling.

"And Julian this is my best friend Haley and her son, Jamie." I said. Then I noticed the time and realized that we should probably get going. Julian greeted Haley and Jamie as they did as well in return.

"Alright guys, it's about time we head out. Haley, thank you so much for watching the kids, I won't be too late." I said.

"You can be as late as you want." Maggie said. I walked over to her, to give her a hug goodbye.

"You sure you're okay with out me?" I said, unsure of Maggie's condition today. It all seemed to be going well, but the night time is when it seems to get worse.

"I will be okay. Aunt Haley is a pro too you know?" Maggie said, laughing. Haley as well. I just smiled, gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked over to my son, Riley.

"Hold down the fort for me, Riley." I said, giving icky Mom cheek kisses.

"Ugh, Mom... lipstick." Riley said, rubbing his face.

"Sorry buddy." I gave him a little pat on the head and smiled.

"Alright, everyone say bye to Mommy and Julian." Haley said, trying to get me out of the house.

"Bye Mama, bye Julian." Bailey said.

"Julian, I expect you to bring my Mother home at a reasonable hour." Riley said. He was such a young man sometimes. It was adorable.

"You got it, kid." Julian said.

"Would you two get out of here!" Maggie shouted. She had a smile on her face.

"Alright, alright, we're out of here. Bye guys, love you." I said, blowing kisses there way, they said their 'I love yous' back and then I shut the door.

* * *

"Sorry, I probably should have just met you at your place, I hope that wasn't too much for the first date." I said, kind of embarrassed, but chuckling to hide it.

"No, it's no problem. Don't be sorry. It was cute seeing how you are with your kids." Julian said, showing his magnificent grin.

"Well, thank you. I'm not gonna lie, this is the first time I've been on a date in a really long time." I spoke honestly.

"Well... me too." Julian said, sounding nervous.

"Really? You look like you date a lot." Idiot. You're an idiot. Why did I just say that? That doesn't even make sense. Idiot! I was already making the face of defeat. The face that everyone makes when they realize what they've just said doesn't make any sense.

"I look like I date a lot?" Julian asked confused, laughing.

"I'm sorry. That was stupid. I say stupid things. I'm just a little... nervous." I said, _trying _to explain myself.

"It's okay, I'm a little nervous too. But, don't worry, I have an awesome place picked out for us to eat dinner, talk about each other, and maybe even some desert." Julian confidently spoke.

"Well... I can't wait to see where you're taking me." I said in my flirtatious voice. Haven't used that tone of voice in awhile. Feels nice.

* * *

_Writers P.O.V._

Meanwhile back at the house, Haley is playing scrabble with Bailey, Riley and Jamie as Maggie sits on the couch and watches.

"Bailey, I'm pretty sure 'P-Q-L-D' isn't a word, sweetheart." Haley said with a sympathetic frown. Riley and Jamie both laughed.

"Aw man! Don't laugh at me, you mean boys!" Bailey exclaimed.

"That's okay, Bear, you'll get em' next time." Maggie said trying to cheer Bailey up.

"Maggie, are you sure you don't want to play? Scrabble used to be your favorite game." Jamie asked, sounding kind of sad.

"Nah, I'll just watch. I feel like I'm too tired to play an intense game of scrabble with you four." Maggie said with a weak smile.

"Whatever, you're missing out." Jamie said, sticking his tongue out at Maggie and throwing a pillow at her. She quickly caught it.

"Watch yourself. Just because I can play the sad cancer patient card, doesn't mean I can't kick your a--" Haley cut Maggie off, in hopes she wouldn't finish her last word.

"Hey, Incredible hulk? Relax. It's time for your meds, girl." Haley said, looking at Maggie with a smile on her face.

Maggie slowly got up off of the couch and went to the kitchen. She opened the cabinet, grabbed a glass and filled it with cold water from the sink. She then went to the counter, opened up her medicine bottle, and put two pills in her hand. She looked at them for a minute, realizing how much hatred she had for the medicine. She put the two pills in her pocket, took a sip of the water, dumped it in the sink and turned around to walk out of the kitchen. Maggie thought that what she was doing was for her own good. Little did she know, Jamie had saw everything she had just done without her knowing and he wasn't going to let her do this to herself.

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

**Alright, that's it for now. Tell me what you guys thought about it. Once again, I apologize for the abrupt ending! I will continue you it soon. Do you guys think what Maggie is doing is right or wrong? And do you think Jamie will keep it a secret? Or will he tell someone about it?**

**ThanksPeace&Love,**

**-Me.  
**


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